Morning Buzz: Wednesday 3.23.11

A series of new storms is expected to bring wet and potentially hazardous conditions to Southern California for the next four days, with the snow level dropping to 3,500 feet. LAT

Politics and politicos

Gov. Jerry Brown's biggest problem is that "most of the Republicans in the Legislature can just sit back and laugh at his exertions, getting exactly what they want by doing exactly nothing. Not surprisingly, Brown is frustrated, exasperated and more than a little pissed off..." Calbuzz

Mayor Villaraigosa will be interviewed by Raul Peimbert and Teresa Quevedo live at 6 p.m. on KMEX Channel 34's "Noticias Univsion 34 a las 6."

Steve Lopez (who makes somewhere above $200,000 a year) comes out in favor of the average $260 tax bite in play in Sacramento as no big deal to save public services. LAT column

Media and media people

The California HealthCare Foundation Center for Health Reporting at USC, in partnership with the Chico Enterprise-Record, has won a top journalism award for “A Burning Issue,” an in-depth project exploring the politics, science and health consequences of wood stove smoke pollution. CHR

USC's student-produced Neon Tommy website draws a larger audience than any other Web-only college news site, and some graduates are getting hired into national web news operations. LAT/Rainey

Denise Dador, health specialist at ABC7, will be the mistress of ceremonies at the April 7 awards banquet of the Greater Los Angeles chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, at the Omni Hotel.

More

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has begun termination proceedings against six deputies who were part of what officials are describing as an aggressive group that may have used gang-like hand signs to identify themselves before allegedly assaulting two fellow deputies at a Christmas party last year. LAT

Arraignment is set today for Jeff Stenroos, the Los Angeles School Police officer accused of lying about being shot by a burglary suspect near El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills, prompting a hours-long neighborhood lockdown and police dragnet. DN wires

An ongoing study of the San Andreas between Palm Springs and Mexico could " change current assumptions about the earthquakes that originate here, especially the Big One expected on the San Andreas fault." LAT

Massage parlors that are really sex services are returning to L.A. in big numbers because the city "failed to quickly assess and act upon the ramifications of a new state law." LAT

Tim Rutten argues that the murals in the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance building on West Adams Boulevard should stay in Los Angeles, not go to the Smithsonian. LAT op-ed

Former Manhattan Beach City Manager Geoff Dolan went on an alcohol-fueled tear during a 2009 weekend trip for city department heads, according to an anonymous letter written to city officials shortly after the incident. Daily Breeze

UCLA's Dr. Stephen Coles studies the oldest people in the world: supercentenarians at least 110-year-old. He recognizes only 88 such people worldwide. Reason TV